Alcantara steering wheel (and not only)

[stewieyan]

Buying a GTS 4.0
Love holding the Alcantara wheel and looking at it too, but finding evidence it’s not long lived. Even the salesman asked if I am planning to keep the car for long, then suggested leather upon a yeah.

Any experiences with Alcantara steering wheel?
If it wears out fast shouldn’t Porsche be held responsible for replacing it for free as part of warranty?

I said no to Alcantara seats for sure - not a fan of butt prints and other marks.

[Twinfan]

Nothing wrong with longevity of Alcantara, it's an incorrect truth that keeps getting relayed. It cleans up really easily as it's man made and designed to be long lasting.

You're missing a trick not having on the seats, it's awesome.

[stewieyan]

Twinfan said:

Nothing wrong with longevity of Alcantara, it's an incorrect truth that keeps getting relayed. It cleans up really easily as it's man made and designed to be long lasting.

You're missing a trick not having on the seats, it's awesome.

Alcantara seats - don’t they catch marks when used heavily?

[Cheib]

stewieyan said:

Twinfan said:

Nothing wrong with longevity of Alcantara, it's an incorrect truth that keeps getting relayed. It cleans up really easily as it's man made and designed to be long lasting.

You're missing a trick not having on the seats, it's awesome.

Alcantara seats - don’t they catch marks when used heavily?

Our Macan has alcantara seats....it’s done 23k miles they still look great as do the seats in my 997 GTS which has done 30k miles. Re Alcantara wheel as has been said it cleans very easily but you just need to be careful not to eat something like greasy food.

[Twinfan]

No marks on my seats, so much wrong information out there.

It's a material designed to be grippy and hard wearing - perfect for a sports car. Leather is slippery and cold.

[stewieyan]

Twinfan said:

No marks on my seats, so much wrong information out there.

It's a material designed to be grippy and hard wearing - perfect for a sports car. Leather is slippery and cold.

It’s hard to find the right answers.
Do you mind posting a photo of your driver seat and how long you had the car for?
So if one uses those seats, are you saying there’s no mark (any indication) of usage on the seat?

[stewieyan]

This is a 2018 approved used from Porsche website, to me those seats don’t look great (and presumably they used all sorts of cleaning product before making photos)

[arcamalpha]

The other advantage of alcantara on seats is that it doesn’t stretch as much as leather so it doesn’t look so saggy over time.

As above I’ve found a lot of mis-information about alcantara. It’s easy to clean and pretty hard wearing in my experience, even on a daily.

[stewieyan]

Basically my understanding with Alcantara you can clearly say if the seats were used (much) or not by just looking at them, no?

[Twinfan]

My current car only has 3500 miles so not a good example to show you. My previous car had 14k on it and was 4 years old. The seats looked like new. My wife's Focus RS has over 41k on it and the Alcantara equivalent on that is also as good as new.

Take a look online or in a showroom at used cars and you'll see what I mean. The pile can be deceptive on pics though, you really need to see them in the flesh.

Everyone has preferences, of course, but claiming Alcantara wears quickly or gets damaged is BS. I don't know why people do it if they have no experience of it!

Edited by Twinfan on Thursday 24th December 10:40

[Porsche911R]

Alcantara wheel's a must have.

[Twinfan]

stewieyan said:

This is a 2018 approved used from Porsche website, to me those seats don’t look great (and presumably they used all sorts of cleaning product before making photos)

Nothing wrong with them, it's just the way the pile is sitting. If you brushed it all the same way it would look perfect. It's just how it is!

[paulne3]

I am not a fan of Alcantara because of the feel/look rather than concerns about how it wears. I have plenty of it in my rally cars which is where I think it belongs. I have removed all traces of it from my Cayman GTS 4.0 and gone for the part cloth/part leather seats which for me is the best of all worlds. In fact I think it is the best interior Porsche does bar none - unfortunately I only have a picture as delivered but the seat centres are blue cloth and the outers are leather.

[gd]

Twinfan said:

Nothing wrong with them, it's just the way the pile is sitting. If you brushed it all the same way it would look perfect. It's just how it is!

This ^^

It's just shading from the pile.

Alcantara is fantastic, we've got a Macan GTS that has the full Alcantara interior and it has not worn at all. My Cayenne has alcantara sports seats, and they still look great after 34000 miles of use. We've also got a GT3 with a lot of alcantara too, admittedly it doesn't get as much wear as the Macan or the Cayenne, but it still looks fresh.

It has other advantages too. It's cool in summer (no burnt legs) and warm in winter (leather can be freezing cold). It doesn't slide as much either, so you don't move around in the seats and you have a better grip on the wheel.

On the steering wheel, Porsche do a cleaning product for alcantara seats, use that it comes up a treat.

I wouldn't buy a car with leather now, I'm a full on convert.

[BertBert]

I don't think alcantara wears well at all. In my (ex) 997GT3 at 160k miles, there was some definite wear on the wheel and the gear knob was quite bad

I think it makes a great interior, but it does have that pile/nap(?) characteristic which is fine by me.

[stewieyan]

paulne3 said:

I am not a fan of Alcantara because of the feel/look rather than concerns about how it wears. I have plenty of it in my rally cars which is where I think it belongs. I have removed all traces of it from my Cayman GTS 4.0 and gone for the part cloth/part leather seats which for me is the best of all worlds. In fact I think it is the best interior Porsche does bar none - unfortunately I only have a picture as delivered but the seat centres are blue cloth and the outers are leather.

Part cloth/part leather seats on GTS 4.0 - looks like that kind of an option is not available any more? Cannot find any cloth mentions in the configurator.

[NewNameNeeded]

I have alcantara interior on my 2014 981 GTS. 50k miles, daily use, and looks like new. Haven't needed to do anything special to keep it looking that way.

Wouldn't personally consider a GTS without the alcantara interior - so much nicer than just full leather, IMHO.

Edited by NewNameNeeded on Thursday 24th December 13:57

[Twinfan]

Agreed, leave full leather to luxury barges

[Brave Fart]

Haha, how funny, because I detest alcantara and would never buy a car with it in! The looks and feel of it are not to my taste. Not in any way a criticism of those who like it, all opinions are valid.
Leather? Love it, even when it is slippery, or cold. Smells great too. Yummy.
If the OP is pondering spec, just be aware there are some folk who really, really don't like alcantara, sorry.

[Twinfan]

Yep, not liking it is of course absolutely fine

Rejecting it because it supposedly wears too quickly is not a valid reason, because it doesn't!